The present invention relates to a device for ascertaining the integral value of the local dosage of ambient high energy radiation.
The increasing employment in industry of high energy radiation for a large variety of purposes and the undesired appearance of such radiation in, for example, high energy particle accelerators, has justifiably necessitated consideration of monitoring. Here it is particularly important to ascertain the radiation dosage which, for instance, a human body has received on a cumulative basis in order to provide conclusions about possible injuries and possible reduction in quality in products on account of such radiation load.
In conjunction with the foregoing one has ascertained (see e.g. Nuclear Technology Publishing, RADIATION PROTECTION DOSIMETRY, vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 227281 of 1984) that it is practical and reasonable to provide for a measurement technique based on paramagnetic properties of the amino acid alanine. It was found that alanine, when subjected to higher energy radiation, forms long lasting free radical points and loci which constitute an indication of the respective local radiation received.
This general discovery, however, has not yet yielded particularly simple and comparatively economic devices or arrangements for ascertaining the radiation load. Therefore in many instances when high energy radiation has to be used in research or production, uncertainty still exists about the radiation load in any particular area and/or within any specific volume, room or the like. Hence, uncertainty exists concerning the expected use life of the equipment exposed to such radiation under the assumption that certain deterioration continues on a cumulative basis. This includes engineering efforts in the field of electrical cable specifically involving supply decontamination. In the case of damage, consequential damages may arise to a considerable extent.